Unite Fujitsu News

Spot the difference?

Members have pointed out a certain shift in tone...

Company Announcement, 12/9/2003:
"the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide"

Company Announcement, 26/9/2003:
"What we aren’t seeing as good value is being forced into negotiating with Amicus under duress and against some unreasonable and immovable positions."

What makes this all the more remarkable is that NO TALKS took place between these dates. Presumably this means that the company were close to accepting our "unreasonable and immovable positions"? Or maybe we just weren't that unreasonable?

Company Misinformation

The Company misinformation machine has gone into overdrive. How do you match up these facts?

1) The Company says the differences between the negotiators aren't that wide
2) The Company says the action and publicity is very damaging
3) The Company refuses to negotiate
4) The Company says hardly anyone supports the action
5) We get email notices today from both Roger Leek (company HR boss), and Peter Hutchinson (boss of Core Services, which employs most of us)

The notices are full of misinformation and untruths. We had a quick skim through one of these notices and produced this cull of corrections.

* One of the major contracts missed its SLAs on the week beginning 15th September.

* Amicus have NOT claimed that the majority of employees went on strike on the 15th. We said that the majority stayed away from MAN05, and that far more than the Amicus membership took strike action. Indeed, our "Avoiding Further Strikes" leaflet acknowledged that some people worked elsewhere. Unlike the company, we believe in telling it how it is.

* A number of units had a clear majority of people taking part in the strike.

* The Company is refusing to talk, not trying to resolve the issues.

* Amicus is NOT claiming that everyone is entitled to SEA severance terms. Look at our redundancy calculator for goodness sake - how many sets of terms are there?

* The Company ARE trying to redefine who the SEA applies to, to reduce redundancy rights dramatically.

* The "rules" on individual representation WERE clear, and had worked perfectly well for many years. The only reason there's any discussion on this issue is because the company didn't like them, and just started ignoring them. They wanted to hold crucial meetings with individuals and deny them representation.

* The Company aren't TRYING to welch on the existing agreement. They ARE welching on it. Look back at our correspondence with the company such as this. The Company refused even to discuss these issues until members voted for strike action.

* It's NOT about affordability. If the company wasn't being so unreasonable on other issues, perhaps their pleas of poverty would be more credible. We'd proposed options for addressing our pay claim that used already budgeted money. The company rejected these options out of hand. Even now, management have shown no willingness to really look for solutions on pay.

* Union subs are NOT £12 a month.

* The majority are NOT silent - they signed the petitions in support of the pay claim, individual representation, and collective bargaining. It's the company that doesn't want to listen.

Make the company negotiate - strike on Monday.
Join in the picketing and motorcade.

Response to the Email from the head of Core Services

Here's a quick response to some of the points made by the head of Core Services, many of which are simply UNTRUE:

• .
  
• Amicus have NOT claimed that the majority of employees went on strike on the 15th. We said that the majority stayed away from MAN05, and that far more than the Amicus membership took strike action. Indeed, our "Avoiding Further Strikes" leaflet acknowledged that some people worked elsewhere. Unlike the company, we believe in telling it how it is.
  
• A number of units had a clear majority of people taking part in the strike.
  
• The Company is refusing to talk, not trying to resolve the issues.
  
• Amicus is NOT claiming that everyone is entitled to SEA severance terms. Look at our redundancy calculator for goodness sake - how many sets of terms are there?
  
• The Company ARE trying to redefine who the SEA applies to, to reduce redundancy rights dramatically.
  
• The "rules" on individual representation WERE clear, and had worked perfectly well for many years. The only reason there's any discussion on this issue is because the company didn't like them, and just started ignoring them. They wanted to hold crucial meetings with individuals and deny them representation.
  
• The Company aren't TRYING to welch on the existing agreement. They ARE welching on it. Look back at our correspondence with the company such as this. The Company refused even to discuss these issues until you voted for strike action.
  
• It's NOT about affordability. If the company wasn't being so unreasonable on other issues, perhaps their pleas of poverty would be more credible. We'd proposed options for addressing our pay claim that used already budgeted money. The company rejected these options out of hand. Even now, management have shown no willingness to really look for solutions on pay.
  
• Union subs are NOT £12 a month.
  
• The majority are NOT silent - they signed the petitions in support of the pay claim, individual representation, and collective bargaining. It's the company that don't want to listen.
  
• He has not been involved in ANY of the negotiations - he is simply acting as a mouthpiece for company propaganda.
  

Please do what you can to explain the reality of the situation to your colleagues.

Monday's Strike at West Gorton

MONDAY MORNING'S STRIKE IS CRUCIAL
The company are hoping that by "acting tough", they can undermine our determination, sit out a declining campaign, and then impose whatever they like.

If we don't achieve a sensible negotiated settlement, don't be under the illusion that everything would go back to "normal". It won't. Things would get rapidly worse.

Don't forget that the head of Core Services said:

• "the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide", and
  
• "stoppage action and adverse publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services"
  

This means that a settlement is achievable, but only if we can put enough pressure on the company to bring them back to the negotiating table.

Most of the issues in dispute arise from the company breaking the key existing agreements that set out our rights at work - our union recognition agreement and the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA).

What we're fighting over now isn't just the "differences between the negotiators". There are currently no negotiations and no offers. This means we're fighting over the difference between what the company would like to do if they can smash the union and what we can get from a sensible negotiated settlement. Unlike the "differences between the negotiators", this is a very wide gap indeed. A gap that threatens rights that most employees take for granted.

We attach a few examples (at the end of this notice) of what this could mean for different people in a redundancy situation. Many of the points in the examples are not just things the company is saying, they are things the company is already doing. And redundancy is just one of the vital issues at stake:

• DEFEND YOUR REDUNDANCY RIGHTS
  
• DEFEND YOUR RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION
  
• FAIR PAY
  
• EQUAL PAY
  
• AMICUS WILL NEGOTIATE, THE COMPANY NEEDS PERSUADING
  

DON'T STAY AT HOME ON MONDAY
The company are pretending in the media and among the workforce that our last strike was not well supported. While there was naturally some variation between departments, the overall support was magnificent - as the mostly-empty car park proved. Here are three reasons why you should take part in the picketing and/or the "motorcade" on Monday:

• Media coverage is a key part of the campaign, and every person makes a difference
  
• The protest has to be visible to us and the company too. The company keep pretending that the only strikers on the 15th were those who took part in the rally!
  
• Some members have the misfortune to be in "weak" departments. A big, visible, turnout will boost their confidence.
  

For details of what's planned for Monday, see our dispute weblog: http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FSJdispute.

LOSS OF EARNINGS
We don't want any member feeling they have to work on Monday because of financial insecurity. Amicus is therefore offering hardship payments to members taking part in the strike, using branch funds, including money generously donated by supporters.

Hardship payments will only be available to members who participate in Monday's strike. You should apply for a payment if your financial circumstances would otherwise stop you taking part. We won't be "means testing" payments, but would ask members to remember that we all want to win this dispute. If you can manage without, please do so - it means more money going where it will help our campaign most.

We've appointed a treasurer, Roy Gerard, to administer the hardship payments. Roy does not decide how much money is available, or how it is distributed, so please don't give him grief! The reps committee has decision-making responsibility.

If you want a hardship payment, you need to:
1) Apply via email to Roy Gerard TODAY, including your name and full contact details. If you've any particular factors you'd like taken into account, include them as well.
2) Be a member (naturally)
3) Take part in Monday morning's strike
4) Sign-in with Roy at the "motorcade preparation area" between 10:30 and 11:30 on Monday morning.

Your reps will decide how to allocate the money once we've seen the number and nature of applications. Your reps expect everyone applying for financial assistance from the union to play a full part in the day's activities. After all, it's these activities that are enabling us to raise the money to support the campaign.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SPIN
The Group HR head has sent all MAN05 staff another message this morning. He says that the action called for Monday won't "help resolve the matters that have been under discussion nor will it impress our customers". Maybe not, but how else will we force the company back to the negotiating table?
...

...
It's interesting that the note makes one concession - setting a minimum to redundancy pay of four weeks . Perhaps the pressure is starting to have an effect? Unfortunately this isn't an offer aimed at settling the dispute - just a gesture. The company aren't making offers, and are not trying to settle the dispute. There have been no talks since 11th September. We need more pressure to make the company talk (and listen).

His note runs through some of what he sees as the "generous" parts of the offer rejected by members on 11th September, and which the company took off the table. Remember that most of what they are "conceding" is what we've actually got already, and they were threatening to take away! The offer was like a spoonful of honey with a big Cyanide pill in the middle. Parts of the offer were totally unacceptable, and would have required you to give up key rights at work. It doesn't matter how much we liked the honey, we'd have been crazy to swallow the pill.

The note is a clear threat of union derecognition. We've been warning for months that this appeared to be the company's real agenda.

From the notice, you'd be forgiven for forgetting that:

• It was the Company that imposed the pay freeze in 2002
  
• It was the Company that imposed this year's pay deal
  
• It was the Company that started breaking our current recognition agreement
  
• It was the Company that started breaking the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA)
  
• It was the Company that refused to discuss the issues until we'd voted for action
  
• It was the Company that picked this fight, not the union
  

You'd think from the note that the Amicus reps were being unreasonable. In fact the offer was rejected unanimously by a meeting of members.

REDUNDANCY EXAMPLES
[You can try to work out your own using the Amicus "Redundancy Calculator"]

CASE 1:
A helpdesk employee whose contract specifies "statutory minimum" redundancy terms gets made redundant. Their pay is £15,000 per year, and they get 4 weeks notice. They were born on 1 January 1970, started work on 1 January 2002. The company puts them at risk of redundancy on 30 November 2003.

• Under the SEA, you are entitled to 90-days warning of potential redundancy. Under the company's "interpretation", you are not.
  
• By the company's "interpretation", you could be made redundant on 30 November, with a basic redundancy payment of £260. The company would either make you work your four week's notice, or pay you in lieu of it.
  
• However, Roger Leek's announcement today said they would offer a minimum redundancy payment of four weeks. This comes to £1154.
  
• Under the SEA, you'd be given warning on 30 November, get 90 (paid) days to seek redeployment or another job, then be given notice. As it happens, the 90 days would also carry you over the date when you'd completed your second year of service, and so increase the basic redundancy payment from £260 to £520.
  
• The difference to you is a better chance of avoiding redundancy, and 90 days pay less £634. And this is money when you need it most.
  

CASE 2:
An employee in HPS who joined the company on 1 January 1980 gets made redundant. They'd got a quote for VR last year, and the company had said they were on SEA terms. Nobody has ever suggested otherwise, but (like everyone else) this isn't specified in their contract. They get paid £28,000 per year, and get 26 weeks notice. They were born on 1 January 1959. They're put at risk on 30 November 2003.

• The company decide that you're not covered by the SEA, as it's not specified in your contract. They say the quote last year was a "mistake". (This is already happening to some employees on another site).
  
• Under the company's "interpretation", you could get:
  
  • No warning of potential redundancy
    
  • Statutory minimum redundancy payment based on 24 years service of £5,720
    
  • The company would either make you work your 26 week's notice, or pay you in lieu of it.
  
  
• Under the SEA, you'd get:
  
  • 90 days warning of potential redundancy
    
  • A redundancy package based on 24 years service of £24,835
    
  • The company would either make you work your 26 week's notice, or have to compensate you for the breach of contract (PILON and PILOB)
  
  
• The difference to you is 90 days pay, a better chance of avoiding redundancy, plus £19,115 more on your redundancy payment. And this is money when you need it most.
  
• Such a big cut in redundancy payments would inevitably discourage volunteers. This means more compulsory redundancies in future.
  

CASE 3:
An employee in PS who joined the company on 1 January 1980 gets put at risk of redundancy on 30 November 2003. They moved to MAN27 when the NT Centre was set up, and signed a new contract specifying "M-grade equivalent" redundancy terms. They're now back at MAN05. They get paid £30,000 per year, and get 13 weeks notice. They were born on 1 January 1959.

• Under the SEA, you are entitled to 90-days warning of potential redundancy. Under the company's "interpretation", you are not.
  
• By the company's "interpretation", you could be made redundant on 30 November, with a redundancy payment of £34,615. The company would either make you work your 13 week's notice, or pay you in lieu of it.
  
• Under the SEA, you'd be given warning on 30 November, get 90 (paid) days to seek redeployment or another job, then be given notice.
  
• The difference to you is 90 days pay, and a better chance of avoiding redundancy. And this is money when you need it most.
  

CASE 4:
An employee in ES who joined the company on 1 January 2000 gets put at risk of redundancy on 30 November 2003. Their contract said they were covered by the "current company policy". Last year they'd applied for a VR quote, and been given one based on M-grade equivalent terms. They get paid £23,000 per year, and get four weeks notice. They were born on 1 January 1979.

• The company say the SEA doesn't apply to you, and that offering you M-grade terms was a mistake. They say you get statutory minimum terms, as that's what goes in most new contracts.
  
  • You get a redundancy payment of £650.
    
  • According to today's announcement from Roger Leek, this would now go up to the dizzy heights of £1769.
    
  • The company would either make you work your four week's notice, or pay you in lieu of it.
  
  
• Under the SEA and past practice, you should get 90 days warning of potential redundancy, notching you up another year's service, as well as giving you more job-hunting time. You should get M-grade equivalent severance package.
  
  • You get 90 days warning of potential redundancy.
    
  • You get a redundancy payment of £3538.
    
  • The company would either make you work your four week's notice, or have to compensate you for the breach of contract (PILON and PILOB)
  
  
• The difference to you is 90 days pay, plus £1769 more redundancy pay. And this is money when you need it most.
  

CASE 5:
An long-standing employee who was a Management-grade gets made redundant. In the past they always got 90 days warning of redundancy, like everyone else. Now the company says there's no obligation to give you this.

• The difference to you is 90 days pay.

Half-Day Strike on Monday 29th September (AM)

HALF-DAY STRIKE ON MONDAY 29th SEPTEMBER (1AM - 12 NOON)
Amicus is calling on all Fujitsu Services staff based at West Gorton (including home-based staff with a West Gorton admin base) to strike on Monday morning (1am - 12 noon). We're also inviting everyone (members and non-members) to join our "motorcade" protest - see below for details.

• DEFEND YOUR REDUNDANCY RIGHTS
  
• DEFEND YOUR RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION
  
• FAIR PAY
  
• EQUAL PAY
  
• AMICUS WILL NEGOTIATE, THE COMPANY NEEDS PERSUADING
  

A leaflet explaining the plans for Monday is available on CafeVIK.

Updates about the dispute are posted frequently on the Internet here:
http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute.

THE COMPANY WON'T TALK
Before the strike on the 15th, the head of Core Services sent out a notice saying:

• "the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide", and
  
• "stoppage action and adverse publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services".
  

Amicus agrees with both these statements, and remains ready to negotiate a settlement to the dispute. For its part, the company is unwilling to meet us. How is this compatible with the view that action is "very damaging" and that a negotiated settlement is within reach? Amicus calls on the company to stop this irresponsible behaviour, and negotiate a settlement to the dispute.

WHAT IS AMICUS AIMING TO ACHIEVE?
We've always wanted a negotiated settlement to the dispute, and always believed it was possible, if the will was there. It takes two parties to reach an agreement. The company only started negotiating once our members had voted for action. Sadly, further action is required to bring the company back to the table.

The stakes are very high indeed. The company is already breaking the agreements that set out your rights. In recent months, the company has said:

• The company, not the employee, chooses whether the employee can be represented in individual matters, unless it's a formal grievance and disciplinary hearing. This means no representation if you're told you're moving to Linkwise, offered a "compromise agreement" to leave the company, or in a sickness return to work interview when you've been off with stress caused by a bullying manager.
  
• Those who don't have the Security Of Employment Agreement (SEA) as part of their individual contract aren't entitled to 90-days warning of redundancy. Indeed, the company have started implementing this already. This represents a sharp reduction in redundancy terms.
  
• The company claimed that the SEA only applied to those where it was specified in the contract. We've yet to find one example of such a contract! To see what a difference losing the SEA would make to you, compare what you'd get under "Fujitsu(GSS)" (i.e. SEA) terms and "Statutory Entitlement" on our redundancy calculator.
  

It's a shame we can't set out the issues in 10 words or less. Unfortunately the company has chosen most of the ground for this dispute, not us. They're breaking our current union recognition agreement and Security of Employment Agreement (SEA) in several important ways. It may look complicated, but it means serious ££££ for you!

Be clear - this fight isn't only about a pay claim - the company are attacking your rights at work and your redundancy package.

Amicus doesn't believe exchanging public emails is the best way to negotiate - sitting down and talking is.

The company want to present the Amicus claim as unreasonable. But remember, Amicus members - people like you - voted unanimously to reject the company's last offer after reading and discussing it. With no talks going on, the company isn't now offering any deal at all.

The industrial action is aimed at reaching a negotiated settlement that protects your rights at work.

CONSEQUENCES?
Everyone's concerned about the consequences of the dispute at two levels.

Firstly, the consequences for the company. These are serious indeed, and Amicus believes it is irresponsible to allow industrial action and negative media coverage to continue without trying to negotiate a settlement. We don't believe there are major obstacles to settlement due to "affordability" - the dispute can be settled if the company is willing.

Secondly, the consequences for the individual. On the 15th, many of those who did come in to work expressed their support for our campaign, but were scared that they would be victimised if they took part. There is legal protection for strikers (whether union members or not). There is safety in numbers - hundreds of people struck on the 15th and suffered no victimisation.

We mustn't forget that there are also consequences of not taking action. If we don't reach a negotiated settlement, the company will do as they please.

You may lose half a day's pay by striking on Monday, but how much would you stand to lose if the company slash your redundancy package? Our current redundancy rights were won by the union in the past. Would helpdesk staff have full sick pay without the union campaign? How much would we all lose in the long run if the company succeeds in its effort to get rid of the union. We all benefit from their being checks and balances on the power of our employer.

There is no turning the clock back - either employees will defend their rights, or lose them.

WHAT NEXT?
We hope Monday will be enough to bring the company back to the negotiating table and reach a sensible settlement to this dispute. If not, Amicus members have already approved two further days of strike action for early October. We already know that one major contract missed its SLAs the week of the first strike. Amicus is calling on the company not to stop jeopardising its business, and to negotiate a settlement.

Don't just stay at home on Monday - join in our "motorcade". See http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute or our latest leaflet for details.

We've been welcoming new members every day. If you're not already an Amicus member, why not join? Membership forms and subs rates are available from our CafeVIK and Internet web sites (see below) or from your rep. There's also a form on the back of the latest leaflet circulating round the site.

Leaflet for Fujitsu Services staff

A leaflet is going out at West Gorton. Employees can access the artwork on CafeVIK here.

Computer Weekly coverage

Computer Weekly continues to cover our dispute in their paper edition, though their web site is not keeping pace. The 23 September edition (page 5) includes a report & photo from the strike on the 15th.

29 Sept Strike Plans

Plans for Monday's strike are taking shape.

We'll be on strike from 1am to noon on Monday 29th September. We're planning an unusual protest on the day - a "motorcade".

MOTORCADE
We’re asking everyone to arrive at the “motorcade preparation area” (see map below) between 10:30 and 11:30. If you’ve got a car, we’ll help you decorate it with posters and balloons highlighting the campaign. If you’re on foot, we’ll arrange a lift.

From 11:30 we’ll drive around the perimeter of the site, and then all go in to work together at 12:00.

This is an unusual (weatherproof) protest, that we hope will attract more media coverage for the campaign – and persuade the company to negotiate a sensible settlement.

Monday's 1/2 Day Strike

Preparations for Monday's half-day strike are coming on.

There's a "One Per Desk" leaflet ready to be distributed round MAN05. The artwork is available on our "MAN05 Union" CafeVIK community for those off site.
If you can help by distributing this around an area or two, please volunteer now. We want every employee to know about Monday's action as soon as possible.

The latest (23 September) edition of Computer Weekly carries an article on our dispute (page 5), with a photo of the march on the 15th. With the company refusing to talk (again), we need to keep up the pressure. Media coverage is an important supplement to the industrial action. We hope that Monday's "motorcade" will gain more media coverage. The Amicus press office is contacting the media as we write.

With the company "acting tough" we must make Monday a success, with as many members and non-members taking part as possible. If you have any issues, please raise them beforehand.

Everyone should be able to stand up for their rights on Monday. Everyone's seen that those who struck on the 15th have not suffered any penalty. And yesterday's notice set out how to apply for hardship payments.

We'll continue to post updates to our dispute "weblog".

Remember what's at stake:

• Union recognition
  
• The right to individual representation
  
• Redundancy consultation
  
• Redundancy packages such as the SEA and M-grade terms
  
• Equal Pay
  
• Fair Pay
  

The majority of MAN05 employees have signed petitions in support of these issues.

From the start we said that the company had picked this fight. First they announced the pay deal before discussing our claim. Then they started breaking the union recognition and Security of Employment agreements. They refused to talk about these issues until members voted for strike action.

The head of Core Services says:

• "the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide", and
  
• "Stoppage action and adverse publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services"
  He's right. So why won't the company talk? The reality is that if we don't make Monday's action a success, we'll have no prospect of a sensible settlement.
  
  Posted by at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)

Dispute Update - More Action Planned

Half day strike on 29th September

The company is still refusing to negotiate a settlement to our dispute - no meetings have taken place since Thursday 11th September. This is quite disgraceful when you consider the comments from the head of Core Services that:

• "the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide", and
  
• "Stoppage action and adverse publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services"
  

The company seem to be trying to "act tough" - cutting off their nose to spite their face. It has always been, and still is, the view of your reps that a negotiated settlement of this dispute is achievable.

Remember what's at stake. We are not simply campaigning to improve on the company's last offer, though improvements in some areas are clearly essential. There is currently no agreement. Unless we reach an agreement the company will simply impose their own agenda - on union recognition, redundancy and pay. The dispute is not just about what we want - the company's position means it's about defending what we've already got.

The action short of strike represents a big shift in how we do our jobs. We've now put out a leaflet/poster across the site, explaining the action. We now need your help to make it effective. If you'd like a rep to come and discuss with you and your colleagues how to make the action fit your area, get in touch.

We don't want the company deciding to "sit it out", rather than negotiating a settlement. The stakes are high. We're encouraged by the strong support for the strike on the 15th, and by the membership forms we're receiving every day. We have to show that determination to the company if we're to reach a negotiated settlement. We have to make it clear that negotiations are the only serious option.

In line with the decisions of the Extraordinary General Meetings (EGMs), Amicus has now called a further half day strike:

All Fujitsu Services staff based at West Gorton (including those who are home-based with a MAN05 admin base) are called on to strike on Monday 29th September, from 01:00 to 12:00.

Remember that Monday's action will be made far more effective if your team/department are taking the action short of strike NOW. This can help ensure that things are already at full stretch by Monday. If we can make the action short of strike effective, it would be the best way to put pressure on the company - with no loss of earnings for those taking part.

We've had a few comments from supporters outside MAN05 that some colleagues are still unaware of our campaign - despite us writing to most of them individually(!). The company are trying hard to keep our action secret inside the company - the "Company Announcements" are only going to MAN05 staff, for example. If staff don't know about our campaign they are more likely to help "work around" our action, making it less effective. You can:

• Talk to your friends and colleagues elsewhere about our campaign
  
• Set up an Out Of Office reply to tell people about our action (see the poster for action short of strike for suggested wording)
  

We don't want any member feeling they have to work on Monday because of financial insecurity. Your reps are therefore proposing to offer hardship payments to members taking part in the strike, using branch funds, including money donated by supporters. See the section below for details of how this will work. We'd encourage all members to think about how you can raise money to support our dispute - see http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/man05.htm for where to send donations. Here's a few ideas:

• Ask friends for a contribution
  
• Got friends or family who're in other union branches? Why not ask them to get a donation from their union?
  
• Volunteer to go (along with someone who's done it before) to a local meeting seeking donations - so far this has proved very effective (and interesting), but we need more people doing it
  
• Ask colleagues on other sites to send a donation
  
• Are you involved in any other organisations that might give a donation or organise a collection?
  

Don't stay at home on strike day. One advantage of a half-day strike is that it makes it easier for everyone to get involved, not just stay at home. At the last EGM, there was a proposal that we hold a rally at lunchtime after the half-day of action. Your reps believe this was an excellent suggestion to involve everyone, but were concerned that we'd already had two "rallies", and rallies aren't something that everyone feels comfortable with. We're therefore proposing something a little different - a cavalcade! Providing we get enough participants, we believe this will be a great opportunity to get more media coverage. Media coverage has already proved an effective weapon in this campaign.

• Everyone turns up well before noon, to a point (to be announced) outside the site, but nearby
• Those with cars get them decorated with posters and balloons etc (non members welcome too!)
• Those without cars get lifts from the rest
• We drive round the outside perimeter of the site until 12:00
• We all go in together

We're also looking for volunteers to picket and carry out other duties on Monday morning - please email Rep Phil Tepper.

For dispute updates, remember to bookmark http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute

HARDSHIP PAYMENTS
Hardship payments will only be available to members who participate in Monday's strike. You should apply for a payment if your financial circumstances would otherwise stop you taking part. We won't be "means testing" payments, but would ask members to remember that we all want to win this dispute. If you can manage without, please do so - it means more money going where it will help our campaign most.

We've appointed a treasurer, Roy Gerard, to administer the hardship payments. Roy does not decide how much money is available, or how it is distributed, so please don't give him grief! The reps committee has decision-making responsibility.

If you want a hardship payment, please email Roy Gerard by the end of this week, including your name and full contact details. We haven't yet decided how to allocate the money, so if you've any particular factors you'd like taken into account, include them as well. The reps committee will decide whether to make it a flat-rate or needs-based payment depending on the applications received.

We want to make sure that only members participating in Monday's action receive hardship payments, so if you've made an application, you'll need to sign-in on a membership list on Monday morning. You can do this at the point where cars are being decorated etc.

Company won't talk - next strike announced

The company is still refusing to negotiate a settlement to our dispute - no meetings have taken place since Thursday 11th September.

This is quite disgraceful when you consider Peter Hutchinson's comments that:
* "the differences between the negotiators are not actually that wide", and
* "Stoppage action and adverse publicity is very damaging to Fujitsu Services and even worse for people in Manchester"

The company seem to be trying to "act tough" - cutting off their nose to spite their face. It has always been, and still is, the view of your reps that a negotiated settlement of this dispute is achievable. However, we're clearly going to have to take more action to convince the company to talk.

AMICUS has now called a further strike:
All Fujitsu Services staff based at West Gorton (including those who are home-based with a West Gorton admin base) are called upon to strike for half a day from 01:00 to 12:00 on Monday 29th September.

This is in addition to the "action short of strike" already announced.

Amicus plans further activities on the day - details to be announced.

Feedback from Homeworkers

Thanks to all of you who took the time to send in comments. I've tried to summarise the main points below, and make some comments about how we can respond to them.

Ian Allinson
Amicus lead negotiator, MAN05

1) WHY HOMEWORK?
Comments: The benefits of homeworking to the company and the individual. In particular, as a "perk" for those it suits, helping staff retention. Shouldn't the company include homeworkers in union recognition, as part of the attraction?

Response: Amicus would like EVERY employee covered by union recognition. It would appear the company would like none. Some sort of compromise is the likely short-term outcome, and that will inevitably include some and exclude others.

2) GEOGRAPHICAL OR ORGANISATIONAL?
Comments: Many work at home precisely because they don't live within 30 miles. The 30-mile rule would exclude me. Why not use admin base? Never realised I wasn't officially covered before! Why not use the base of the project you are associated with? Why not use your manager's location? Why not have a geographical rule AND include those outside clearly linked to the site?

Response: Part of the problem here is that the HOM99 group is very varied. It ranges from software development/support to mobile engineers, consultants to salesmen. It's very hard to come up with a definition that works for all these groups, and even harder to come up with one that would still work in a few years time.

The general context here is that we don't have recognition nationally, and until we do, there will be a boundary. We've had a lot of debates with the company about the boundary for non-home-based staff. It will be primarily based on location, as at present. This reflects employment law, and people's location generally changes less frequently than the company organisation.

It has never been the case that recognition covered (for example) HPS - it always depended if you were based at West Gorton. For many types of work, it's hard to define where the work is based. Some people don't know who their manager is, for example.

We had many people expressing a preference for the "admin base". We can't use admin base unless we can define what that means. Effectively this leaves the same question as before - how do we objectively define who is associated with which site? Both the company and Amicus were anxious to avoid any definition which could be "manipulated" to enlarge/reduce the people covered.

I like the idea of going for two criteria - 30 miles OR clear link to the site. I think the company might object though, as they'd see it as enlarging the unit. Worth a try though...

3) WHAT'S A HOMEWORKER?
Comments: We need to be careful in our language. For example, Mobile Engineers are regarded as "home based" but not "homeworkers".

Response: Good point. Is there someone out there who knows the definitions and could help us with drafting?

UKCF Meeting

The minutes from the Fujitsu Services UK Consultative Forum meeting in August are now available here.

Homeworkers

Quite a bit of information is currently put out through our "One Per Desk" leaflets at MAN05. To ensure that members who are home-based or mobile don't miss out, we've now set up a "ONE-PER-DESK LEAFLETS - FOR MAN05 HOMEWORKERS" section on our "MAN05 Union" CafeVIK community.

Branch Meeting

The next meeting of Amicus Greater Manchester IT Branch is:

6pm-7:30pm, Thursday 2nd October
Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub, Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA

(near Shudehill tram stop)

The main topic of the meeting will be "Grievance and Disciplinary procedures". There will also be discussion on workplace reports, and normal branch business.

All members are encouraged to attend.

Reps Committee

One of our reps, Patrick Hayes, intends to step down as a rep in a couple of weeks as he'll be changing to work part-time. We will therefore have a vacancy on the reps committee. If you're interested in becoming a rep, please email Rep Alan Jenney.

Unless we have another General Meeting around the right time, the reps committee will decide who to co-opt to fill the vacancy. If you want to be considered, please:

• Get another MAN05 member to email Rep Alan Jenney to nominate you
  
• You need to email Rep Alan Jenney including:
  
  
  
  • Your name
    
  • Your department
    
  • Your location within the site
    
  • Your internal phone number
    
  • Your external phone number
    
  • Any mobile phone number
    
  • A statement of NO MORE THAN 100 words, which would encourage people to vote for you
    

We need to have this by Monday 29th September.

Dispute Update

We're still waiting for the company to come back with dates for further talks. Your reps sent the following note to management:

As you're already aware, our members instructed us to call a further half-day strike before the end of the month, unless there is a settlement. We don't believe staff would understand it if there were undue delays before talks recommenced. Employees would hardly be sympathetic if the company caused a further strike by unduly delaying talks, after all the dire warnings about the consequences of strike action for the business.

We expected them to want a few days to take stock (and so did we). We also expected them to be reluctant to be seen to make concessions immediately following the industrial action. It is, however, disappointing that they're wasting this much time, and making more industrial action more likely.

Remember - we've been here before. For months the company refused to talk to us about their breaches of our agreements. It was only the threat of industrial action that brought them to the table. We have to keep up the pressure.

During the (long) period when we were holding our industrial action ballot, the company spent its time threatening legal action, instead of trying to resolve the dispute. Now the company is once again neglecting their responsibility to settle the dispute. This time, there are no threats of legal action, but the rumour mill is working overtime. The rumours seem closely based on the letter from the head of Core Services, but employees can only speculate about who is powering the mill.

Rumours are like vampires - they can't stand the light of day - so lets talk about one of them - "The company is very upset and is going to shut the site".

• The site is going to shut - we've known that for ages - and the company has already signed the contract for the new Central Park site to replace it.
  
• We're sure the company is very upset - Monday's action was more effective than we dared hope. We know that in at least some departments managers have been totting up who was on strike. Interestingly, given the company's public claims that "less than 100" people took part, the figures we've seen (don't ask!) from the company show a higher level of support than we'd thought.
  
• The costs to the company of making us all redundant would be huge. Just think about it for a moment. Never mind the disruption to customers etc.
  
• The costs of settling the dispute would be relatively low. Keep a sense of proportion.
  
• We can't believe that the company's position is driven by "affordability". On several issues which aren't financial (e.g. individual representation) the company weren't even offering what we had before!
  

Little is certain in life, and jobs rarely are. But we can be certain that any decision to close the site would be based on other factors much bigger than the cost of settling our dispute.

Let's not lose sight of who picked this fight either:

• The company imposed the pay freeze in 2002
  
• The company imposed the pay deal in 2003 that left a third of us with nothing, and a third STILL below the bottom of the company pay scales
  
• The company broke our union recognition agreement
  
• The company broke our Security of Employment Agreement (SEA)
  
• The company were unwilling to resolve these issues through negotiation
  

Members were absolutely right to reject the company's offer last week - it would have given away rights that would cost us all dearly in months and years to come. We must maintain our resolve and increase the pressure to reach a sensible settlement of the dispute.

We need to build up the action short of strike, to increase the pressure before the half-day strike planned for the morning of Monday 29th September.

Here's some ideas for the action short of strike:

• Don't do work without being given a charge code or call number
  
• Don't use your own car on company business (unless you get an allowance in lieu of a company car)
  
• Don't accept overnight stays away from home
  
• Don't work outside normal hours (including travel)
  
• Don't respond to "out of hours" requests when not being paid for standby and overtime
  
• Don't make it easy to contact you by mobile phone or pager
  
• Take regular breaks - with your colleagues if possible
  
• If you work on a helpdesk, take every call very thoroughly - give the customers an exceptional (but maybe a little slow) service
  
• Set up an Out Of Office message every night and weekend to advertise the action
  
• Unsure about any part of your job - ask your manager before you do it
  
• Attend all unproductive meetings to which you are invited
  
• Update your CV, Objectives, Skills Database or Personal Learning Plan
  
• Read Company Announcements thoroughly
  
• Discuss any Personal Development issues you may have with your manager
  
• Regularly back up your personal data
  
• If you don't know the time-code for something, don't guess - ask
  
• Make sure you leave work on time, even if you're in the middle of something
  

In other words, minimise the amount of productive work you do!

If we can build up the action short of strike in the coming days, we can put a lot of pressure on the company without losing more pay. Please do everything you can to involve your colleagues in this action.

Don't forget that updates on our dispute are posted frequently on our dispute weblog.

Homeworkers' Special

The current West Gorton recognition agreement doesn't formally include homeworkers. However, the practice over a number of years has been to include some homeworkers in our discussions with the company, for example over last year's redundancies. In the past, this was done on the basis of the "admin base" for a home-worker. This is the basis upon which some homeworkers were included in the MAN05 ballot.

Your reps believe that homeworkers should be taking a special interest in one aspect of the current MAN05 dispute.

In the negotiations, reps pushed for the formal inclusion of some homeworkers in a new recognition agreement, and the company have accepted this in principle. However, both sides agreed that it was necessary to have a clear definition of which homeworkers were included, as the "admin base" is not a clear definition.

The company proposed that the agreement should cover:

• Homeworkers who live within 30 miles of the West Gorton or Central Park sites, and
  
• Who inform the union and company that they wish to be covered
  

Though the definition is not what we would ideally want, it would mean formally including some homeworkers for the first time. The definition would include some people who have never been covered before, but exclude others who had clear organisational links to MAN05 but happen to live beyond the 30-mile boundary.

As you will be aware, the offer was unanimously rejected by members last week, as other aspects of it were totally unacceptable. However, we believe that if we keep up the pressure on the company, a settlement can be reached.

Homeworkers in the north-west have a lot to gain from a successful outcome to the MAN05 dispute.

As talks haven't restarted, nothing is "on the table" at the moment, but our expectation is that the company's last offer would be the starting point for further talks. We'd therefore welcome your views on the proposed scope, and how it would affect you.

To pre-empt some points, we have considered defining the group by "manager's location" etc, but think this is a bad idea for several reasons:

• It changes too easily, and would be hard to track
  
• It can be manipulated by the company
  
• Some people don't know who their manager is
  
• Some managers are home-based too
  

With all its faults, we think some geographical definition is probably best, though we'd like to get rid of the opt-in principle, as we have for site-based people.

Messages of Support

Messages of support keep coming in - in fact we've got so many we've had to split them into four different files: 1 (1 Mb), 2, 3 (1 Mb) and 4.

Messages of support can be emailed to support@ourunion.org.uk,
faxed to 0870 705 2814,
or posted to Ian Allinson, Amicus, Fujitsu Services, Wenlock Way, West Gorton, Manchester, M12 5DR.

Many thanks to everyone who's sent us a message so far.

How to Win a Dispute and Avoid a Strike - Please VOTE

After Monday's successful strike, what next?
We're still waiting for dates for further talks from the company - it appears they are time-wasting yet again. As it stands we have no agreement with the company at all - members rightly rejected the company offer at last week's Extraordinary General Meeting. We need to keep the pressure up to achieve a negotiated settlement.

Where are we strong?
Your reps need to build up a picture of which departments had strong and weak support for Monday's strike, to help us organise. Please take the time to vote [using the voting buttons on this email], telling us what YOU did on Monday. We realise this won't give us a clue about the level of support, as not all of you will respond, and we're only asking members, but it should show us variations across the site.

Action Short of Strike
Amicus is calling on all Fujitsu Services staff at MAN05 (including home-based workers with a MAN05 admin base) to take action short of strike, as set out on the back of the leaflet here which was distributed at the EGM on 11 September, and most people have had on their desks.

We need to make this action effective - this is our best chance of achieving a settlement quickly. Members already decided that there should be a further half-day strike before the end of September, if no agreement has been reached, and then a further two days of action in the first two weeks of October. The more effective the action short of strike is, the less likely that these strikes will be necessary. And after all, we still get paid when taking action short of strike!

Trade union membership has always been synonymous with skill, competence and professionalism at work. Unions were at the forefront of promoting proper training and accreditation in many trades. Amicus members in Fujitsu are no different - everyone takes a pride in doing their job well. So it's a big culture shift to be "working to rule" etc. It means not taking responsibility for getting the job done. The company caused this dispute, and continue to waste time when we should be negotiating a settlement. It's the company's responsibility to reach a settlement so we can all get the job done. What sense would there be in taking strike action, only to work extra-hard in between to avoid it having any effect?

Outside MAN05
People have been asking us what those outside MAN05 who want to support our action should do. They cannot legally take part in the MAN05 industrial action. Some examples of what you can do include:

• Avoid busting a gut to cover for us
  
• Refuse to do things which aren't their job, which they are asked to do as a result of the action
  
• Send us a donation, payable to "MSF Greater Manchester IT 9827 Branch"
  
• Send us a message of support - many are already on our dispute "weblog" http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute
  
• Book annual leave on the strike day(s)
  
• Come along to any rallies or demonstrations
  
• Anything else which is legal, isn't industrial action, but will increase the effectiveness of our action - use your imagination!
  

Help out

• Lots of non-members are joining in our action. Why not ask them to join? Forms are on our web sites, noticeboard, or available from a rep.
  
• Many people aren't clear what the action short of strike is, or how they can join in. There's no substitute for talking to your colleagues.
  

Mathematically challenged?

It's interesting to note that the BBC report has been updated. It now includes a claim by the company that "less than 100" people took part in the strike! This number was presumably supplied by the same person who's worked out our pay rises in recent years...

This also offers a novel way for us to fund our dispute. Presumably the company will only be docking pay from a minority of the strikers, so the rest can chip in to help those whose pay is docked?

In reality, the majority of staff stayed away. We know that a few worked from other sites, and some worked from home, but the numbers were clearly far larger than the Amicus membership.

It can't be good for an IT company to be publicly displaying such a lack of numeracy. Perhaps they confused the numbers striking with the smaller numbers who came along to our rally? It can't be due to lack of information - the company went to extraordinary lengths to find out what Amicus was doing. One senior manager was even spotted trying to hide in the bushes near the front gate!

Legal protection for strikers

Some non-members reluctantly went in to work yesterday, as they weren't clear that they were legally protected if they joined the strike.

The relevant legislation is the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended by Schedule 5 of the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Membership or non-membership of a trade union has no bearing on the legal protection for striking employees.

Just to spell out what this means:

Fujitsu Services employees based at MAN05, including home-workers with a MAN05 admin base, are protected from dismissal in connection with the official industrial action, for a period of 8 weeks from Monday 15th September.

Pickets can lawfully ask everyone not to enter the site on strike days, and the union has immunity from being sued for damages arising from the action. People who aren't in the group above (Fujitsu Services employees based at MAN05, including home-workers with a MAN05 admin base), but who choose not to cross the picket line, do not have the same legal protection.

Thank You and Well Done

Notice to Amicus members - please pass on to your colleagues who aren't yet members.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
A very big thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday's strike at MAN05. Amicus wanted a settlement, not a strike, but once the company had left us no alternative, it was important that the action was effective. Beforehand, the company claimed that only 10% of staff supported the action. In reality, the majority of staff respected the picket lines.

A particular welcome to those who joined Amicus on the day. Membership forms are available from a rep, our noticeboard, or from our web sites.

Many of those who did go into work expressed their support for the union campaign. Some even offered to donate their day's pay to the campaign. Some people said they were scared of reprisals from management if they took part in action. This was particularly true for non-members employed by Fujitsu Services, many of whom were unaware that they too enjoy legal protection (under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992) for taking part in lawful industrial action. This protection applies even if it is your first day at work - there is no "qualifying period". All those who were fearful can now take confidence from the majority who respected the picket lines.

The action received widespread media coverage, including local radio (Century and BBC GMR). You can see our own reports on our web site at:
www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute.

Your reps would welcome your reports on the day, please email Rep Ian Allinson. Your report could describe things like:

• What you did
  
• Reactions from colleagues and the public
  
• How you felt about it
  
• What impact the action had
  

WHAT NEXT?
Throughout the dispute, Amicus has been keen to reach a negotiated settlement to the dispute. We have accepted the company's recent proposal of using ACAS in a conciliation role to help in our talks. We believe that a protracted dispute can only be harmful to the company and its employees. We've proposed that the talks continue later this week, but are still waiting for possible dates from the company. Brinkmanship has not served the company well so far, and we hope they aren't continuing this tactic. Amicus will be using the delay to work on the last set of proposals from the company.

Though we're now back at work, Amicus is calling on all Fujitsu Services staff based at MAN05 (including home workers with a MAN05 admin base) to take part in action short of strike, as follows:

a. Withdrawal of goodwill. This means stopping all the extra things we do to help the company run smoothly, over and above what is formally required of us. Examples (not exhaustive) include stopping:
i. Doing work prior to being given a charge code or call number
ii. Using our own cars for company business (except where in receipt of an allowance in lieu of a company car)
iii. Overnight stays away from home
iv. Working outside our normal hours (including travel)
v. Responding to “out of hours” requests when not being paid for standby and overtime
vi. Making ourselves easily contactable by mobile phone or pager

b. Taking full breaks. This means taking appropriate breaks away from work, stopping work for lunch, and VDU users ensuring that they have at least 10 minutes every hour not using their VDU. These suggestions have the added benefit of being good for your health!

c. Helpdesk staff ensuring all calls are logged carefully and thoroughly, making appropriate use of Make Busy and Do Not Disturb.

d. Setting up an Out Of Office reply to cover the strike day and non-work periods such as overnight or weekends. This should be based on “Fujitsu Services staff at West Gorton are currently taking industrial action because the company is breaking its union recognition and redundancy agreements, and over a pay claim. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you want more information or to join AMICUS, see www.ourunion.org.uk. Please send messages of support to support@ourunion.org.uk.”

Please use your common sense to ensure this action is effective. Again, you don't have to be a union member to take part.

Why not set yourself up a reminder to take your breaks? Why not get a group of you to go for a brew together?

If this action is effective, we hope the dispute can be settled before the further planned strike action is necessary.

Strong support for action

Before our strike, the company claimed that only 10% of the workforce supported it. In fact, the majority of the workforce stayed away, as this photo of the car park (at its busiest) shows:

It was also interesting that many of those going in supported the campaign, weren't confident enough to take part in the action. After all, who can remember a strike at MAN05? Some of those going in wore Amicus stickers, others offered to donate their day's pay to the campaign. One brought refreshments out to the pickets.

It was clear that many of those who weren't union members hadn't realised that they too had legal protection if they took part in lawful industrial action.

As well as the majority of MAN05 staff, pickets turned away food deliveries, the post, and even the window cleaners. We've received many more messages of support and donations from across the labour movement. People recognise that we're fighting for vitally important rights that we should be able to take for granted.

If we do need to take further action, we're confident that the support would be even stronger than yesterday.

The strike day

We've been on strike today - picketing since the early morning. Far more staff stayed away than just the Amicus membership - the car park was less than half full, and there were even plenty of spaces in the managers' car park.

In the morning, we had good coverage on local radio - Century and BBC GMR. The BBC web site also carries a report.

We have photos available from our rally and march here on our website.

Plans for Monday

Amicus is calling industrial action for all Fujitsu Services staff based at MAN05, including home workers with a MAN05 admin base, starting on Monday 15th September.

The full version of this entry includes an email we've sent out to most MAN05 staff in response to the propaganda from Roger Leek and Peter Hutchinson.

Here's what you need to know:

1) We'll be picketing MAN05 from early morning - lend a hand if you can.

2) We won't be parking on site. There are a few nearby parking places within view of the pickets.

3) We'll be assembling on Wenlock Way for a rally at 10am. Amicus North-West Regional Secretary Kevin Coyne is now confirmed as a speaker. Bring along friends, family and supporters for the rally and march.

4) You can park free at the Longsight Asda, and we've arranged a minibus to ferry you up to Wenlock Way. Please arrive well before 9:45am, as we can't fit in everyone on one trip.

5) We'll be marching from the rally to the Pakistani Community Centre, Stockport Road, Longsight. This is next to the parking area. We'll be holding a General Meeting for members there at 11am, to take decisions on the next steps in the dispute.

Now that we're taking action, we have to make sure we win. Otherwise the company will treat it as a green light to make more attacks on our rights. Please don't stay at home on Monday - come and join in the activities. We're already getting significant media interest in the dispute, and a big turnout for the rally and march will make a real difference.

The march route and details are already available on this dispute web page, and further updates will be posted here in coming days.

We've set up two phone numbers for queries in the coming days:

* 0701 740 3216 to hear a recorded message about the action.

* 0701 740 3105 to speak to a rep with any queries on the action.

[unfortunately, calls to these numbers will cost approximately mobile phone rates]

Don't forget to set up your Out Of Office reply. We suggest the following wording:

"Fujitsu Services staff at West Gorton are taking industrial action from Monday 15th September because the company is breaking its union recognition and redundancy agreements, and over a pay claim. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you want more information or to join Amicus, see www.ourunion.org.uk. Please send messages of support to support@ourunion.org.uk"

This is the text of an email we've sent out to most MAN05 staff in response to the propaganda from Roger Leek and Peter Hutchinson:

AMICUS Notice to Staff - 12th September 2003

MAN05 INDUSTRIAL ACTION

You may have read Roger Leek's announcement yesterday, and Peter Hutchinson's announcement today, concerning the industrial action which begins on Monday 15th September.

The company only began serious negotiation once our members had voted to take industrial action, despite months when Amicus was raising the issues in dispute. We acknowledge that progress has been made in the last few weeks on a number of topics. Indeed, we'd describe certain aspects of the company offer more positively than Roger did.

A ship only needs to be holed once below the waterline to make it unseaworthy. So it is with the company offer. However positive some aspects of the offer may be, if other parts are fundamentally flawed, the whole deal becomes unworkable. The Amicus members involved in the dispute were sent the full text of the company offer. We then held an Extraordinary General Meeting of members which discussed the offer in detail. In full possession of the facts, not just some company spin, Amicus members unanimously rejected the offer, and confirmed the decision to take industrial action on Monday.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE OFFER?

1) The company are seeking to restrict individual's right to representation, despite the fact that we've presented a petition to the company, signed by the majority of their MAN05 staff, which said "If employees choose to be represented in a meeting, managers should not deny them that right". The company want a veto on when people can be represented, and to worsen the individual grievance procedure in other fundamental ways.

2) Reducing their commitment to consult, set out in the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA). They want to narrow the circumstances in which they'd consult, and avoid collective consultation for smaller number of job cuts.

3) The company refuse to give any guarantee that they will continue the past practice that all staff get 90-days warning of potential redundancy - they want to exclude better-paid staff.

4) No offer on Fair Pay.

5) We and the company want to agree a clear definition of who gets SEA redundancy terms. Their offer includes a definition which is wrong, and would threaten the redundancy terms of many staff.

6) The company want us to give them more power to break employee's contracts and make them redundant with Pay In Lieu Of Notice (PILON) instead of notice, regardless of the individual's wishes.

7) Banning the use of the individual grievance procedure in relation to redundancy, but not defining the alternative appeal process

Amicus didn't enter these negotiations to give away your rights.

AFFORDABLE?

The company would like to present the dispute as if the issue was affordability. That's not true. Many of the key questions in dispute are not financial - they're about the company treating employees with respect, and letting you have a voice.

Even the issue of pay needn't have been an issue of affordability - we'd proposed using some of the bonus money to fund pay rises, but the company turned that down.

A THREAT TO OUR OWN JOBS?

The company wants to present industrial action as a threat to our own jobs. We recognise that the action will harm the company, and are taking it as a last resort, after months of trying to get the company to negotiate seriously. But the alternative is almost like blackmail - if we allow the company to attack our rights because we always fear the alternative, there would be no end to the attacks. We have to draw the line somewhere. The company has a responsibility to avoid damage to its business - if only management took that as seriously as we do.

The company want us to believe that the result of action would be to move work away from Manchester. This would be no answer to the issues we're raising, many of which are shared by staff across the country. Every day we receive membership forms from other sites. Staff elsewhere are hoping to benefit from what we win - just as helpdesk staff nationally gained Sick Pay already.

The company has a responsibility to avoid damage to its business - if only management took that as seriously as we do.

ACTION

Nobody takes industrial action lightly. But our members know that if we don't resolve the major outstanding issues, we'd be giving up rights that staff have cherished for many years. If we do nothing, we believe that matters will get sharply worse for employees.

The company is keen to encourage the myth that the industrial action is for Amicus members only. This is not true. Every Fujitsu Services employee at MAN05 (including home-based workers with a MAN05 admin base) has the same legal protection for taking lawful industrial action. The company would like to pretend that only 10% of MAN05 staff support the planned action - where on earth do they get that figure from?

If you think the issues we're fighting for are important, please support our action. You need to make this important decision for yourself, not be fooled by company "spin".

Update on Action 15th September

Amicus is calling industrial action for all Fujitsu Services staff based at MAN05, including home workers with a MAN05 admin base, starting on Monday 15th September.

Here's what you need to know:
1) We'll be picketing MAN05 from early morning - lend a hand if you can.
2) We won't be parking on site. There are a few nearby parking places within view of the pickets.
3) We'll be assembling on Wenlock Way for a rally at 10am. Amicus North-West Regional Secretary Kevin Coyne is now confirmed as a speaker. Bring along friends, family and supporters for the rally and march.
4) You can park free at the Longsight Asda, and we've arranged a minibus to ferry you up to Wenlock Way. Please arrive well before 9:45am, as we can't fit in everyone on one trip.
5) We'll be marching from the rally to the Pakistani Community Centre, Stockport Road, Longsight. This is next to the parking area. We'll be holding a General Meeting for members there at 11am, to take decisions on the next steps in the dispute.

Now that we're taking action, we have to make sure we win. Otherwise the company will treat it as a green light to make more attacks on our rights. Please don't stay at home on Monday - come and join in the activities. We're already getting significant media interest in the dispute, and a big turnout for the rally and march will make a real difference.

The march route and details are already available on our dispute web page, and further updates will be posted there in coming days: http://www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute.

We've set up two phone numbers for queries in the coming days:

• to hear a recorded message about the action.
  
• to speak to a rep with any queries on the action.

[unfortunately, calls to these numbers will cost approximately mobile phone rates]

Don't forget to set up your Out Of Office reply. We suggest the following wording:
"Fujitsu Services staff at West Gorton are taking industrial action from Monday 15th September because the company is breaking its union recognition and redundancy agreements, and over a pay claim. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you want more information or to join Amicus, see www.ourunion.org.uk. Please send messages of support to support@ourunion.org.uk"

AMICUS Notice to Staff

MAN05 INDUSTRIAL ACTION

You may have read the announcement yesterday from the head of Group HR, and the announcement today from the head of Core Services, concerning the industrial action which begins on Monday 15th September.

The company only began serious negotiation once our members had voted to take industrial action, despite months when Amicus was raising the issues in dispute. We acknowledge that progress has been made in the last few weeks on a number of topics. Indeed, we'd describe certain aspects of the company offer more positively than the Group HR head did.

A ship only needs to be holed once below the waterline to make it unseaworthy. So it is with the company offer. However positive some aspects of the offer may be, if other parts are fundamentally flawed, the whole deal becomes unworkable. The Amicus members involved in the dispute were sent the full text of the company offer. We then held an Extraordinary General Meeting of members which discussed the offer in detail. In full possession of the facts, not just some company spin, Amicus members unanimously rejected the offer, and confirmed the decision to take industrial action on Monday.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE OFFER?

• The company are seeking to restrict individual's right to representation, despite the fact that we've presented a petition to the company, signed by the majority of their MAN05 staff, which said "If employees choose to be represented in a meeting, managers should not deny them that right". The company want a veto on when people can be represented, and to worsen the individual grievance procedure in other fundamental ways.
  
• Reducing their commitment to consult, set out in the Security of Employment Agreement (SEA). They want to narrow the circumstances in which they'd consult, and avoid collective consultation for smaller number of job cuts.
  
• The company refuse to give any guarantee that they will continue the past practice that all staff get 90-days warning of potential redundancy - they want to exclude better-paid staff.
  
• No offer on Fair Pay.
  
• We and the company want to agree a clear definition of who gets SEA redundancy terms. Their offer includes a definition which is wrong, and would threaten the redundancy terms of many staff.
  
• The company want us to give them more power to break employee's contracts and make them redundant with Pay In Lieu Of Notice (PILON) instead of notice, regardless of the individual's wishes.
  
• Banning the use of the individual grievance procedure in relation to redundancy, but not defining the alternative appeal process
  

Amicus didn't enter these negotiations to give away your rights.

AFFORDABLE?

The company would like to present the dispute as if the issue was affordability. That's not true. Many of the key questions in dispute are not financial - they're about the company treating employees with respect, and letting you have a voice.

Even the issue of pay needn't have been an issue of affordability - we'd proposed using some of the bonus money to fund pay rises, but the company turned that down.

A THREAT TO OUR OWN JOBS?

The company wants to present industrial action as a threat to our own jobs. We recognise that the action will harm the company, and are taking it as a last resort, after months of trying to get the company to negotiate seriously. But the alternative is almost like blackmail - if we allow the company to attack our rights because we always fear the alternative, there would be no end to the attacks. We have to draw the line somewhere. The company has a responsibility to avoid damage to its business - if only management took that as seriously as we do.

The company want us to believe that the result of action would be to move work away from Manchester. This would be no answer to the issues we're raising, many of which are shared by staff across the country. Every day we receive membership forms from other sites. Staff elsewhere are hoping to benefit from what we win - just as helpdesk staff nationally gained Sick Pay already.

The company has a responsibility to avoid damage to its business - if only management took that as seriously as we do.

ACTION

Nobody takes industrial action lightly. But our members know that if we don't resolve the major outstanding issues, we'd be giving up rights that staff have cherished for many years. If we do nothing, we believe that matters will get sharply worse for employees.

The company is keen to encourage the myth that the industrial action is for Amicus members only. This is not true. Every Fujitsu Services employee at MAN05 (including home-based workers with a MAN05 admin base) has the same legal protection for taking lawful industrial action. The company would like to pretend that only 10% of MAN05 staff support the planned action - where on earth do they get that figure from?

If you think the issues we're fighting for are important, please support our action. You need to make this important decision for yourself, not be fooled by company "spin".

For more information see www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute.

Industrial Action plans

This leaflet (162k file) gives details of the plan of industrial action.

March route for 15th September

Members reject offer - strike on for Monday 15th September

This afternoon's Extraordinary General Meeting passed the following motion without a single vote against:

This group rejects the company offer as it now stands. We will begin industrial action as planned on Monday 15th September, and continue negotiations.

We instruct our reps to stop the action if the company makes an offer that members indicate they wish to accept, or if that decision is made by a further General Meeting.

We recognise that the agreements have been drafted in haste, and instruct our reps to work with the company to improve the agreements, and seek our approval for a revised version.

This means that the industrial action planned for Monday will go ahead.

The meeting recognised that the offer was substantially better than the one considered last week. However, we identified ten key points where the offer from the company was still so seriously flawed that it was unacceptable:

1) Restricting the right to individual representation to certain types of meetings (worse than our current union recognition agreement)

2) Allowing the company to unilaterally make "exceptions" from the Individual Grievance procedure (worse than our current union recognition agreement)

3) Allowing the company to implement decisions before hearing individual grievances (worse than our current union recognition agreement)

4) Restricting collective consultation to redundancies, rather than redeployments and reorganisations, as required by the existing Security of Employment Agreement (SEA)

5) Stopping collective consultation where less than 11 people were to be made redundant (worse than the existing SEA)

6) Giving no guarantee on 90-day redundancy consultation periods for those earning over £35,836 (unlike SEA or past practice)

7) No offer on pay

8) An inaccurate definition of who was covered by the SEA, which would threaten the redundancy terms of many members

9) Changed wording on Pay In Lieu Of Notice (PILON) that allows the company to dismiss members without notice

10) Banning the use of the individual grievance procedure in relation to redundancy, but not adequately defining the alternative appeal process

Amicus is calling on all Fujitsu Services employees based at West Gorton (including home workers with a MAN05 admin base) to strike on Monday 15th September. Action short of strike starts on this day too.

WHAT ABOUT NON-MEMBERS?

Non union members can take part in the industrial action. They have the same legal protection as members - they cannot be dismissed for taking part in lawful industrial action. To offer them further reassurance, the EGM agreed that we would defend non-members who joined in. If they support what we're fighting for, they should support our action.

Fujitsu Services West Gorton strike on Monday 15th September

This afternoon's Extraordinary General Meeting passed the following motion without a single vote against:

This group rejects the company offer as it now stands. We will begin industrial action as planned on Monday 15th September, and continue negotiations.

We instruct our reps to stop the action if the company makes an offer that members indicate they wish to accept, or if that decision is made by a further General Meeting.

We recognise that the agreements have been drafted in haste, and instruct our reps to work with the company to improve the agreements, and seek our approval for a revised version.

This means that the industrial action planned for Monday will go ahead. Updates on our dispute will continue to be posted here: www.ourunion.org.uk/icl/FJSdispute.

The meeting recognised that the offer was substantially better than the one considered last week. However, we identified ten key points where the offer from the company was still so seriously flawed that it was unacceptable:

1) Restricting the right to individual representation to certain types of meetings (worse than our current union recognition agreement)
2) Allowing the company to unilaterally make "exceptions" from the Individual Grievance procedure (worse than our current union recognition agreement)
3) Allowing the company to implement decisions before hearing individual grievances (worse than our current union recognition agreement)
4) Restricting collective consultation to redundancies, rather than redeployments and reorganisations, as required by the existing Security of Employment Agreement (SEA)
5) Stopping collective consultation where less than 11 people were to be made redundant (worse than the existing SEA)
6) Giving no guarantee on 90-day redundancy consultation periods for those earning over £35,836 (unlike SEA or past practice)
7) No offer on pay
8) An inaccurate definition of who was covered by the SEA, which would threaten the redundancy terms of many members
9) Changed wording on Pay In Lieu Of Notice (PILON) that allows the company to dismiss members without notice
10) Banning the use of the individual grievance procedure in relation to redundancy, but not defining the alternative appeal process

Amicus is calling on all Fujitsu Services employees based at West Gorton (including home workers with a MAN05 admin base) to strike on Monday 15th September.

We will be picketing from the early morning, holding a rally at 10am on Wenlock Way, then marching to Longsight for a General Meeting of members to consider next steps. Action short of strike starts too.

FACT:
Non union members can take part in the industrial action. They have the same legal protection as members - they cannot be dismissed for taking part in lawful industrial action. To offer them further reassurance, the EGM agreed that we would defend non-members who joined in. If they support what we're fighting for, they should support our action.

GET INVOLVED:
Members today made a very serious decision. We must make Monday's action a success, or the company will treat it as a green light to continue attacking our union recognition and redundancy rights. We need the involvement of every member on Monday, and as many non-members as possible.

MAN05 Dispute

Following the unanimous decision by members at last Thursday's Extraordinary General Meeting to reject the company's offer, further talks with management took place on Friday and are due to resume later this week. We will be presenting the latest position to members at a further Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday. Once again, the meeting will have vital decisions to make, so it is important that every member in the ballotting group who can attend is there. (This means all members employed by Fujitsu Services at MAN05, including home-workers with a MAN05 admin base.)

Extraordinary General Meeting

3pm-4:30pm, Thursday 11th September

MAN05 Restaurant

The meeting will decide whether to accept the offer, or go ahead with action on the 15th September.

What the members said

We held an Extraordinary General Meeting of members this afternoon.

The meeting considered the offer from the company. There were problems with the content of the proposed agreements, and the fundamental problem that they required the union to make major concrete concessions (for example giving up the Security of Employment Agreement as a collective agreement) in exchange for points which would not be finalised at the time of signing.

Members passed the following motion unanimously:

* We reject the company?s offer, and resolve to begin industrial action on 15th September.

* We instruct our reps not to delay the action again.

* We instruct our reps only to call off the action if the company has made an offer that members have indicated they wish to accept, or if that decision is made by a further General Meeting.

* We recognise that the agreements have been drafted in haste, and instruct our reps to work with the company to improve the agreements, and seek our approval for a second version.

Reps will continue negotiations with the company, and the two sides have agreed that if an improved set of draft agreements are produced, it will be brought to a further Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday 11th September. Reps will hold an initial meeting with the company at 9am tomorrow, to report on the General Meeting.

EGM Report

Report from the Extraordinary General Meeting of Amicus members in Fujitsu Services MAN05

The meeting considered the offer from the company. There were problems with the content of the proposed agreements, and the fundamental problem that they required the union to make major concrete concessions (for example giving up the Security of Employment Agreement as a collective agreement) in exchange for points which would not be finalised at the time of signing.

Members passed the following motion unanimously:

We reject the company’s offer, and resolve to begin industrial action on 15th September.
We instruct our reps not to delay the action again.
We instruct our reps only to call off the action if the company has made an offer that members have indicated they wish to accept, or if that decision is made by a further General Meeting.
We recognise that the agreements have been drafted in haste, and instruct our reps to work with the company to improve the agreements, and seek our approval for a second version.

Reps will continue negotiations with the company, and the two sides have agreed that if an improved set of draft agreements are produced, it will be brought to a further Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday 11th September. Reps will hold an initial meeting with the company at 9am tomorrow, to report on the General Meeting.

Members discussed and updated the plan for industrial action, passing this motion unanimously:

We instruct our officers to call industrial action, starting on 15th September, as follows:
1. Action short of strike, consisting of:
a. Withdrawal of goodwill. This means stopping all the extra things we do to help the company run smoothly, over and above what is formally required of us. Examples (not exhaustive) include stopping:
i. Doing work prior to being given a charge code or call number
ii. Using our own cars for company business (except where in receipt of an allowance in lieu of a company car)
iii. Overnight stays away from home
iv. Working outside our normal hours (including travel)
v. Responding to “out of hours” requests when not being paid for standby and overtime
vi. Making ourselves easily contactable by mobile phone or pager
b. Taking full breaks. This means taking appropriate breaks away from work, stopping work for lunch, and VDU users ensuring that they have at least 10 minutes every hour not using their VDU.
c. Helpdesk staff ensuring all calls are logged carefully and thoroughly, making appropriate use of Make Busy and Do Not Disturb.
d. Setting up an Out Of Office reply to cover the strike day and non-work periods such as overnight or weekends. This should be based on “Fujitsu Services staff at West Gorton are currently taking industrial action because the company is breaking its union recognition and redundancy agreements, and over a pay claim. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you want more information or to join AMICUS, see www.ourunion.org.uk. Please send messages of support to support@ourunion.org.uk.”
2. A one-day strike on Monday 15th September
3. A half-day strike before the end of September. We authorise the reps committee to select an appropriate date.
For the avoidance of doubt, subsequent General Meetings can change or extend this plan, but we must give at least seven days notice to the company before any action.

The meeting endorsed a number of nominations by reps and health & safety reps for the coming elections to the new Amicus National Executive Council (NEC). The NEC is the main national decision-making body of the union between conferences, and will meet six times a year.

It was confirmed that rep Dave Francis will represent Amicus on the company's new Pensions Consultative Forum.

Computer Weekly coverage

Computer Weekly continues to cover our dispute.

Branch Meeting

Thursday is also the date for the next meeting of the Greater Manchester IT Branch. All branch members are encouraged to attend.

6pm-7:30pm

Thursday 4th September

Upstairs, Hare & Hounds pub

Shudehill, Manchester City Centre, M4 4AA

As well as the normal business, the meeting will decide branch nominations for the new Amicus National Executive Council.

MAN05 Dispute

Talks with management took place all day today, and are due to continue tomorrow, working on an offer from the company that we can present to the Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday. Thursday's meeting will have vital decisions to make, so it is important that every member who can attend is there.

Extraordinary General Meeting

3pm-4:30pm, Thursday 4th September

MAN05 Restaurant

The meeting will decide whether to accept the offer, or go ahead with action on the 15th September.

As part of the campaign, we've now written to over 5000 Fujitsu Services employees on other sites, explaining the dispute and inviting them to join the union. Membership forms are now coming in.

Donations from throughout the labour movement continue to arrive - with another £400 today. In total we've received over £3000 now - a big help with the costs of the recruitment mailing, and the practicalities of organising for the planned industrial action from 15th September.

What next?

Talks with management continue tomorrow and Wednesday. We don't want to spend a lot of time agreeing a report on Friday's talks with management, only for things to change tomorrow. We aim to have an agreed progress statement after tomorrow's talks.

At Friday's meeting we presented a petition, signed by 535 Fujitsu Services West Gorton staff. The petition read:

We the undersigned believe that:

a) Changes to our Terms and Conditions or Working Practices should be negotiated with us through the union, not unilaterally imposed by management

b) If employees choose to be represented in a meeting, managers should not deny them that right

The General Meeting for members will be:

3pm-4:30pm, Thursday 4th September

MAN05 restaurant

This meeting will consider any further offer from the company, and either accept that offer, or reaffirm the industrial action planned for Monday 15th September. It is therefore vital that all members based at West Gorton (including home workers with a West Gorton admin base) attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, plans for the 15th are taking shape, with most of the route for the march already agreed with the police.